George Sandys

George Sandys 1578-1644, English poet and traveler, b. Yorkshire, son of Archbishop Edwin Sandys. He was educated at Oxford and in 1610 began an extended tour of Europe and the Middle East, which he wrote about in A Relation of a Journey (1615). In 1621 he became a treasurer of the London Company. He accompanied (1621) the new governor, Sir Francis Wyatt, to Virginia, where he remained until 1631, serving three terms on the governor's council. While in Virginia, Sandys produced his most famous work, a translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses (1626). His other works include paraphrases of the Psalms, hymns, and a translation of a work of Grotius under the title Christ's Passion: A Tragedy (1640).

Bibliography: See his works, ed. by R. Hooper (1968); biography by R. B. Davis (1955); study by J. Haynes (1986).

Sandys, George (1578–1644), a member of Falkland's circle at Great Tew. His chief works were a verse translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses (1621–6), a verse Paraphrase upon the Psalmes (1636), and Christs Passion: A Tragedy, a verse translation from the Latin of Grotius (1640).

Sandys, George (1578–1644),English‐born colonist in Virginia (1621–25), treasurer of the London Company, and member of its council. While in Virginia he made a verse translation of the last ten books of the Metamorphoses to accompany his previous translation of five books, and the whole was published as Ovid's Metamorphosis Englished by G.S. (1626). This was the first translation of a classic made in America, and it contains many references to America. The remainder of his works, written when he resided in England, include poetic paraphrases of the Psalms of David, the hymns of the Old and New Testaments, and the Song of Solomon.